I love making pasta salad in warm weather. It’s nice and cool, and I can put in whatever vegetables and herbs I’ve got. It’s great to pack and take for lunch, too. I make all different kinds, depending on what’s fresh. Today I decided to try it with my homemade ranch dressing and herbs picked fresh from the garden.

Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain it and cool it off by running cold water through the colander while stirring. Peel and dice the cukes, dice the tomato. Mix the dressing, herbs, veggies, cheese and cold macaroni. I always add extra black pepper on top, too.

My sister-in-law Kate made a great BLT Ranch pasta salad, with cooked crumbled bacon, chopped tomatoes and sliced lettuce, and that would be a really great modification to this recipe. You could also add cooked chopped chicken, hard boiled eggs, chopped onions, peppers or summer squash, depending on your taste.

I like to throw chopped broccoli and green beans into the boiling pasta shortly (about two minutes) before draining it, then rinse under cold water to stop the cooking so the veggies are still crunchy and bright green. Then I add tomatos, black olives, parmesan cheese, and vinagrette. You are totally right that pasta salad is the perfect summer lunch.